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Workbook (1989)
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Wishing Well
Wishing well runs wet and dry
I wish for things I never had
Surrounds and wells up in my eyes
The screaming voice, it lies
Wishing well gets someone's attention
Every wish you ever had
In a day of nights, in the darkest of light
Sits and cries, watch the lies
Could you give me a wish if I tell you what I want?
Will the price be no object?
I wish for dreams of light
I live for wishing well surprise
Deepest light, the secret lies
Wishing well gives you all that you desire
Homes and trains, and the greenest of plains
That you ever happened upon
The silent wish, it calls you out
Calls you out by name
Lays upon the plain, on the mountain high
City lights, wish delights
What if the waters and wishes appear?
Will the price be no object?
I wish for dreams of light
I live for wishing well surprise
Twist and shape on the winding twine
Around the spindle winds
Wish again, four times again
Four wishes deep into the well
There's a price to pay for a wish to come true
Trade a small piece of your life
Roots in the soil, uprooting the soil
Mountain high, the mountain high
The wish is only to speak a kind
Kind of word, so benign absurd
The well, three wishes run dry
Wishing well is dry
When no grass grows, the weeds run in line
Wish three wishes, three wishes run dry
Heartbreak A Stranger
Days come, days go by
So it matters, so you say
But it's all coming back in a way
And nothing will ever change
The words exchanged for revenge inside
You know these things take time
Now and then, these words
Make me laugh so powerful
Going through several lies
They've never been so true
I know that I'm used to time
You know what it is, don't you?
Some words make us all cry
It's so talented
If anybody could read my mind
And share with me these thoughts
Of all the enemies left behind
And friends that time forgot
Pretending nothing could ever faze you
Well, some things never change
Tell me why do these words ring home
How can you heartbreak a stranger?
Days come, days go by
So it matters, so you say
But it's all coming back in a way
And everyone knows a way
And everybody runs away
From somebody who cries
See A Little Light
Listen, there's music in the air
I heard your voice, coming from somewhere
But look how much we've grown
I guess I should have known
As the years go by, they take their toll on you
Think of all the things we wanted to do
And all the words we said yesterday
That's a long time ago
You didn't think I'd really go, now
Are you waiting? (I know why)
You're already saying goodbye
Are you ready? (I know why)
I see a little light, I know you will
I can see it in your eyes, I know you still care
But if you want me to go
You should just say so
Poison Years
Poison thoughts in my mind
Got to free myself from this bind
I know I'm a reasoning guy
In an act like Jesus Christ
Stare into the sun
You don't see eye to eye with anyone
I throw it all away (Don't talk to me no more)
The more I think, the less I've got to say (I don't remember you
no more)
About these poison years: it's just a memory
And every time you knock me down
It's all that I can do to get up off the ground
Pull myself apart again
At the end of this rope
Rope at the end of the line
I see you swing by your neck on a vine
Treason is the reason for my poison years
Leaves are changing seasons of my poison years
Poison years in my mind
Got to free myself from this bind
I know I'm a reasoning guy
Every time you knock me down
It's all that I can do to get up
To get up off the ground
Sinners And Their Repentances
All those things I've done before
It doesn't matter anymore
I see the errors of my oh-so-humble ways
Better run before
There's no way that I can cover for
All these things catch up to me
We've all sinned before
I have sinned before
These sins, they seem to fit you well
Since I have known these sins so well
All these sins I've known before
They just don't concern me anymore
A secret voice in my sleep
Better speak before
Know there's someone right behind the door
I don't seem to speak with ease
Falling
Falling down
I see these words don't work so well
I say these words so well
See me saying "Oh, well"
It's easy to save face in this world
How can you qualify
Difference between a sin and a lie
I see my silver lining in the sky
But now I can't decide
If you told the truth or you lied
You seem to sin so well
This light's so bright
It seems to hurt my eyes
You seem to sin so well
If the crush of your emotions
Leave you lying in the dust
Then take it all right out on me
And leave me in the rain to rust
Brasilia Crossed With Trenton
I walk through the day
Through the open fields
I walk to my truck
To my truck and drive away
To the road
Through the broken roads, trusty road
I was headed for the road
The road that runs that way
And I, I see the train
The trains don't run to Brasilia
I walked through the fields
Through the fields to Brasilia
My ticket stub says I'm going
I'm going to Trenton
When my friends stop by
I try to impress them, no buildings over two stories high
Except my house, oh my my, I see
See crossed lattice work made out of brick
I see buildings
With laundry hanging out of the window
Never in my wildest dreams would I think I'd see
Brasilia crossed with Trenton
When you live in the middle of nowhere
Your imagination runs away and wild
You make games, I make games that I play most once a day
I pretend Brasilia turned to Trenton
Brasilia crossed with Trenton
Department store
The only place that I buy clothes anymore
I used to be a big shopper 'round the world
Big credit cards, they don't matter anymore
'Cause I can't pay any money that I owe
To these cards anymore
They don't take these things down at the bank
They just take money
Imagine yourself in the middle of nowhere
Imagination runs away for a while
I play games about once a day or so
I don't know, that's where I'd rather go
Brasilia crossed with Trenton
I wish that I could tell my story
To all the people that listened to my story long ago
I knew that this would happen sooner or later
That I'd get disillusioned with it all
Just throw my hands up to the sky and say
Oh Lord, what happened, what happened
To make things run this way
Imagine yourself in the middle of nowhere
Your imagination runs away for a while
You learn to play games about once every day or so
I walked to Brasilia crossed with Trenton
Brasilia crossed with Trenton
Compositions For The Young And Old
Found a book of interest the other day
Compositions for the young and old to sing
Poems written many years ago
They told of family and hope and other things
Put together in the old days
When fifteen cents, it was a buck
That's when five would get you ten
Before it took you eight just to get you one
Some people, they don't care when they're down on their luck
Cheap thrills are awful hard to find these days
No one is amused for free
Someone's pulling on your mama's apron strings
You'd better run and see who it is
Playing cards with your neighbors on the back porch
Singing with an old beat-up guitar
Going to the local swimming hole
Until they closed it down, now there's nowhere to go
Things used to be so simple, long time ago
Now everything is so expensive and complicated
I hear you need a license for just about anything
Used to be that a handshake was a man's word
Now we settle arguments in court
No one trusts anyone's intentions anymore
Rummaging through the attic when I'm home
It brings back those memories to me
I'd amuse myself when I was small
When I was younger, the simplest things would do
Now I'm on everybody's mailing list
For things I can't afford to buy
I hear the weatherman
He says "It looks like rain for a while"
I guess I'll have to stay inside
Make peanut butter sandwiches and cry
Lonely Afternoon
Well, the silence in this house
It echoes in this house
I pull myself together, say
"Today I will get out"
The world, it changed without me
You should hear what I've been told
The streets I see are blasphemy
Lined with paper cups and gold
And in some dream, I think
That every word I dare to speak
Someone's always leaning over me
Lean all over me
A giant vision in the distance
Chase that rainbow down
I hear a pound, pound, pounding in my chest
I hear a knock, a knocking sound
It's the slivers flowing through my veins
It's a sign that I'm alive
You're lucky, oh my friend, so lucky
You're lucky just to be alive
As words go turning by
I wish they'd all come clear
In this room
Another lonely afternoon
I can count the lonely days
I get by, as they go by
Standing in the stairway by this room
By this room
(They've held me down for long enough;
Like a flower, I need to grow)
The frail and tender heart
Been shipwrecked with a fool
Feeling so abused, well, sometimes
Life can be so cruel
And the ones who make decisions for you
Well, they better understand
But you don't know what made me think of that
Lonely afternoon
Dreaming, I Am
Wire cage with rope and wooden framing doors behold
Prancing for the camera in some monthly centerfold
It's the loneliest I've been so far
Someone left the golden door ajar
Innocent they stand and picking up across the ground
Hope to clear a path in garden this whole year around
When they all line up
When they all line up
Chicken surely knows that fox so well
Chicken understands that fox so well
Over the fence and down the field
Runs that fox so sly
Stealing embryo
Take those golden go
Dreaming, I am
Try to fly in desperation, wings come into view
Nicotine is from my system, assistance
Sleep, I have been sleeping for so long
Run with safety underneath the feet they so adore
Hen suspects the fox on guard beside the golden door
Sweating from my system
I'll make across the wall
I'll tumble down the wall
Dreaming, I am
Whichever Way The Wind Blows
Jackrabbit done run cross that road
Goin' to motel in the sky
That rabbit done, story been told
Why that jackrabbit done go die?
Old turtle go next cross that road
He crawlin' as low as he can
That turtle done talk to that toad
Turtle don't cross here again
And everybody goes whichever way the wind blows
Young chicken done cross near that road
He listen to traffic go by
That chicken done, story been told
To get to the other side
I warn ya, don't go near that road
I know that road, it's a bitch
I walk right next to that road
All hanging out in the ditch
If ever you travel that road
You better keep over your side
And keepin' your hands on the wheel
That road be a long road to ride
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